The Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission, ANSIEC, on Saturday cancelled the Local Government polls in Nnewi North Local Government Area for security reasons.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the Acting Chairman of the commission, Sylvester Okonkwo, said in Nnewi via telephone that the poll could not go on as scheduled.
The election was rescheduled for Saturday following its failure to hold in the local government on January 11.
Mr. Okonkwo said that the commission would sit to determine the next possible date for the election, saying that members of the public would be informed.
In a reaction, the Chairman of Labour Party in the state, Sam Oraegbunam, said it was a great shock that the polls were cancelled half way. According to him, there was no serious reason whatsoever to do so.
Mr. Oraegbunam said that the cancellation was because of efforts in some quarters to subvert the process; pointing out that some manners of politics in the state were becoming embarrassing.
“We no longer understand what is happening in Anambra politics where some people want things their way rather than the masses deciding their own fate. ANSIEC has failed this time, I doubt its level of independence because there is peace in the entire Nnewi North today, I see no reason for this decision,” he said.
In his reaction, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, councillorship candidate for Uru Ward 1, Nnamdi Okafor, said on phone that he was not aware of the development as the process was going on smoothly in his ward.
“It is not true, we have even started counting votes in my unit,” he said.
The All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, councillorship candidate, Ngozi Uba, said that she would accept whatever decision the umpires made as she belonged to a law-abiding party.
APGA, PDP and Labour Party are the main parties in the election.
Meanwhile, economic activities as well as vehicular movement was as usual in the area.
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